Guardian's Return
by Felus
Summary: A mysterious figure from the past returns when the galaxy is in a time of peril. But is he here to help, or will he stand by and watch as the ruthless enemy sweeps the New Republic away?
1. Introduction Loss of the Light

Author's Note: Greetings all, welcome to my first posted story here on fanfiction.net. I hope you enjoy it. And may the Force be with you as you read it...maybe it will protect you from any harmful effects.  
  
Disclaimer: I like disclaiming. All original characters are mine, and all unoriginal characters are not. Clever, eh?  
  
A Special Thank-You: I would like to thank George Lucas for making this story possible.  
  
----  
  
In a realm of light, surrounded by light, he was the light. In his eyes was light, blinding him to all but the light. There was no taste, no touch, no smell, no sense but light. And then, as he existed in this realm of light he heard a voice. A voice he knew he had heard before, a voice he knew he would hear again. And he knew what the voice meant. It was time to awaken.  
  
"It is time for you to Walk again," she said. "Your destiny awaits."  
  
"I am leaving this place?" he asked, fearing a world absent of Light.  
  
"You will always reside here. Here, of all places, you Are. Go now, my friend. May the Force be with you."  
  
----  
  
It rained. There was no wind, and the drops of water fell straight to the ground, splashing in puddles and transforming dirt into mud.  
  
On the edge of a deep, verdant forest, not quite in the forest and not quite on the wide grassy plain that bordered the trees, stood a small hut. It was plainly crafted, made of wood and thatch and a cement-like mixture of mud and grass. Through the small window the glow of a fire spread outward into the dark and the rain. Inside, Ren stood in the center of the single room, eyes closed. Something was happening, or was about to happen. She could feel it with the Other senses she had been taught to use from childhood. But her power did not tell her what she should do, so she waited, and listened to the rain.  
  
----  
  
A man awoke to rain pouring down on his face. He lay on his back in the mud, staring up at the sky, his body already soaked from the downpour. The rain on his bare skin felt sweet. He could feel again. He opened his mouth and felt the clean water trickle down his throat. Then he coughed, spluttering, and rolled over onto his stomach, his face in the mud.  
  
The man tried to push himself to his feet, or even his knees, but his arms gave out. He rested, and when he felt a little more strength in his limbs he tried again. There was a light ahead of him, barely visible through the rain, and the man made for that light, struggling with a body that felt as if it had been sick for months, and was just recovering. The rain beat down on the man's back, and he struggled onward, crawling through the mud towards the light.  
  
----  
  
Suddenly the door slammed open. Ren opened her eyes and stared at the man who stood there, leaning against the doorframe, unclothed, soaking wet. He stared up at her, grey eyes almost unseeing. His lips parted as if he wished to speak, but then he collapsed onto the dirt floor of Ren's home, unconscious.  
  
It took Ren some time, but she struggled the man into the hut's narrow cot, dried him off with a scrap of cloth, then covered him with thick blankets woven from the wool of a reshet, a goat-like creature native to the planet. The man remained unconscious, apparently deep in sleep. Only after she had made the stranger as comfortable as possible did Ren stop to inspect him more closely.  
  
His age was undeterminable. He could have been thirty, or he could've been much older. He was tall, broad-shouldered, but thin, almost emaciated, and his muscles were weak, as if he had not used them for some time. His hair and beard, still damp from the rain, were dark brown, with streaks of grey throughout. His skin was pale, seemingly untouched by recent sun. His face was handsome, though his cheeks were hollow. It seemed almost as if the man had been without food for a very great time.  
  
Ren looked down at the man for a moment, then smiled and nodded to herself. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind to contact her brethren. They were so close that it took little effort at all, and she relayed her message with ease. Their small community, now aware of what had happened, would wait for her call. When she asked, they would come, and their destinies would be fulfilled.  
  
Ren sat by the cot for several hours, getting up once or twice to add wood to the fire. She was sitting there on the three-legged stool when the man on the cot awoke. He opened his eyes wide. They were grey, and the firelight danced in them. The man looked towards Ren.  
  
"Who are you?" His voice was weak, almost inaudible.  
  
Ren laid cool fingertips on his brow. "I am called Ren. Sleep now, Great One. You must regain your strength."  
  
He settled back onto the pillows, but his brows drew together in puzzlement. "Great One? What...do you mean?"  
  
Ren smiled, staring down at him, an expression almost of awe painted clearly on her features. "Your coming has been foretold, Great One. Now the day we have waited for all our lives has come, and you are here. Welcome, Great One. Welcome."  
  
The man closed his eyes on the vision of the smiling young woman, and slept. 


	2. The Path to Recovery

The man slept through the night. He remembered no dreams, except for a lingering longing, some feeling he couldn't quite put a name to. In the morning he opened his eyes. The rain was only just ending, giving way to glorious morning sunshine. The man gazed out through the window for a moment, watching the sunlight, and then he settled back on the pillows and tried to remember his name.  
  
It was thus that Ren found him when she came in later. His expression introspective, his body still, he appeared lost in thought. She moved into the hut and began preparing the vegetables she had brought in from the garden behind her hut. The hut was silent for several moments.  
  
"You are..." He paused. "...Ren. Where are we?"  
  
His voice had gained strength since the night before: it was deep, powerful, and carried a hint of an unplaceable accent.  
  
"Arca. On the southern continent." She sliced vegetables.  
  
"Oh." He sat up on the bed and started to push the blanket away, then stopped. "I don't suppose I came here with any clothes?"  
  
Ren turned around, smiling. "No, Great One. Don't you remember? You came out of the rain last night. Just as you are now." The man blinked a few times, then nodded.  
  
"I do remember now." He raised one eyebrow slightly. "Are you curious where I came from? Out of the night like that, a perfect stranger, perfectly nude?"  
  
"You were meant to come. I have known for most of my life. We have all been waiting for you, Great One." She spoke with utter ernesty, completely sure of what she said.  
  
The man frowned. "Why do you call me that?"  
  
"That is what you are, Great One."  
  
"No, I am not." He smiled slightly. "I'm just a man. Call me Felus."  
  
"Is that your name? You are Master Felus?"  
  
His smile fell for a moment, and he watched her carefully. When he spoke it was with a guarded tone. "Not Master. Just Felus. I'm not a Jedi."  
  
Ren cocked her head to one side. "What is a Jedi?"  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
"The word sounds familiar, but it has likely been many years since I've heard it. We have not had word of the outside galaxy for many years." Then she shrugged and turned around to finish preparing their breakfast.  
  
The man, Felus, ate as if famished, shoveling vegetables and fruit into his mouth. When he was finished he looked up to find Ren slowly working at her much smaller helping. He waited till she was done.  
  
"Ren, who told you that I would be coming here? Why have you been waiting for me? And you spoke of others? Who are they?"  
  
Ren smiled gently at him. "My teacher, Uram, told us that you would someday appear here. His teacher, Vorem Paige, told him." Felus nodded slowly. "Through my teacher Uram, Vorem Paige passed on this duty. Uram taught me and nine others, and charged us with this task. The task was to stay here until you arrived, and then to serve, aid, and help you as we are meant to. That is why we are here Felus. To help you."  
  
"I know Vorem Paige. Its hard to remember, my thoughts are fragmented like a dream but...Vorem Paige was the student of one of my students. Derbinar Kang. I traveled with Vorem for some time. Is he here?"  
  
"Vorem Paige has been dead nearly forty years. Master Uram told us of this, though it took place long before we arrived here. Master Paige died fighting a Fallen One who sought to defeat our purpose here."  
  
"A Fallen One?" Felus sat forward, listening intently to Ren's story.  
  
"A disciple of an evil being whom Master Uram called Vader. The Fallen One was sent to find Master Paige and kill him. The Fallen One did that, but she lost her life in the process. The secret of our location was kept, and we have not been discovered by anyone since that time."  
  
"How did you come to be here?"  
  
"Almost twenty years ago Master Uram went out into the galaxy and found the ten of us. We had the potential to be trained, to learn how to use the power some call the Force."  
  
"And your Master? Where is he?"  
  
Ren sighed, and for a moment her face fell. "Master Uram died nine years ago. A plague swept over the planet, killed many of the natives. We ten survived by virtue of our youth, but Master Uram succumbed."  
  
Felus was silent for a moment, and Ren made no move to disturb him. Instead she gathered the wooden bowls they had eaten from and began to tidy up. She was nearly finished when Felus spoke.  
  
"How old was Master Paige when he died?"  
  
"I would guess about forty, judging from what Master Uram used to tell us."  
  
Silence reigned again for a minute or two.  
  
"Fifty years then. About fifty years since I left." Felus spoke as if to himself, eyes distant, one finger idly stroking his beard. "Fifty years, and I remember none of it."  
  
Ren turned around and moved over to the cot, then sat on the little stool. "You should rest now. You need to regain your strength, for there is much work ahead of you. Ahead of all of us."  
  
The man nodded, then settled back onto the cot, his expression still distant. "Fifty years. So much may have happened. So many things may have changed."  
  
"But we have not changed. We have waited for your return. Now you have come, and we are ready."  
  
His eyes closed, and he fell into sleep.  
  
----  
  
Felus slept until midday, when he awoke for long enough to devour another meal before sinking again into slumber. He did the same that evening, and he said no word, and Ren didn't think it strange. He had been elsewhere for fifty years, and he was gravely weakened. So Ren made his meals, and watched him carefully, noting how he began to fill out almost immediately, losing his gaunt aspect and taking on the appearance of a well-fed, normal human being. That night Ren stretched out by the fire, and slept deep. She dreamt of places she had never been before, and faces she had never seen, and she knew that a man's dreams, if strong enough, could spread to others.  
  
----  
  
"I fear only that he is traveling towards the Dark Side. He subjects himself to...influences that are dangerous at best, deadly at worst. You know this is true, Master Kenobi."  
  
"Master Felus, I made a promise. I certainly appreciate your advice, but I have heard the same from others, Master Yoda among them. He travels a dangerous path, that is true, but I am certain I can guide him down it, with the help of the Force."  
  
"He carries a power beyond what any of us has seen. And the Force says nothing to me about him. That is very strange, Master Kenobi. The Force is normally quite candid with me."  
  
"I must go, Master Felus. Believe me, I will do my best to guide him. He will be the greatest of the Jedi. May the Force be with you."  
  
----  
  
"No longer your concern is it! Never your concern it was, I think."  
  
"The boy is dangerous. You must see that."  
  
"Quiet, the Force is on this matter."  
  
"On all matters, recently."  
  
"It concerns you not."  
  
"Ah yes, that's right. I'm leaving. I am to be exiled."  
  
"A guardian do the colonists need. The perfect choice, you are."  
  
"Master, I will go on this mission. I will guide the Farbound colonists. But I want you to know, now, before I go...I am severing my ties to the Jedi Order."  
  
"A grave loss, that is."  
  
"The loss took place when you assigned me to Farbound. Or perhaps it took place long before. I am sorry, old friend. But my path lies elsewhere, now."  
  
"Understand, I do. May the Force be with you, Master Felus."  
  
----  
  
"I don't understand how the Council can justify letting you go. They will need every Jedi they can get in what is to come."  
  
"The Force guides us in ways we do not understand. The Farbound Project is my destiny, and I will not run from it. But in any case, that is neither here nor there. I have chosen to leave the Jedi Order. I am a rogue now, I suppose."  
  
"Welcome to the club."  
  
"Glad to know I have partners in crime, Derbinar."  
  
"Felus, I want you to know...I'll care for your interests, while you are gone. When you return, everything will be in order."  
  
"You and I both know it is unlikely that anyone from Farbound will ever return. But thanks for the thought."  
  
"Don't be so sure the Force is done with you. You don't think destiny will let you go without a fight, do you?"  
  
"Sometimes you frighten me, Derbinar."  
  
"There's your shuttle. May the Force be with you, Felus."  
  
----  
  
For two more days Felus did little but eat and sleep. Ren cared for him, waiting for him to recover. The others touched her mind and inquired, once or twice, but she told them she would notify them when the Great One was ready. They agreed to wait for her call. At her request one of them left a bundle of men's clothes at the door, which she set by Felus' bed for when he was ready to leave it.  
  
----  
  
When Ren woke on the morning of the third day she found a small, rabbit- like animal roasting over the fire. The cot was empty, and the sun was shining brightly through the window, telling the young woman that she had overslept. Her charge, apparently, had not. The hut's door was open, allowing a fresh breeze to enter the room. Ren rose, and went to the door.  
  
He was out in the grassy area in front of the hut, his hands planted on the ground, his toes pointed towards the sky, balancing with easy dexterity, doing push-ups. As Ren watched he bent his arms, lowering himself till his face nearly touched the ground, then he straightened his arms nearly fully, raising himself into the air. He was clad only in a pair of loose, functional pants, and sweat dripped out of his hair.  
  
Felus opened his eyes and saw her standing then, then bent at the waist and let his feet touch the ground. He came towards her, grinning widely.  
  
"Your tender care is doing wonders, but I needed a bit of exercise."  
  
Indeed, it seemed that a combination of her care and his exercise had done wonders. Over the previous days his body had rejuvenated, no longer thin and wasted, but full and strong.  
  
"I'm famished."  
  
"We will eat, and then you will meet the others. I think you are ready, Great One."  
  
As they stepped into the house he went to check the breakfast he had snared. "I'll only agree to meet them if you all cease to call me Great One. It upsets my already precarious health."  
  
"As you wish, O Master Felus."  
  
He straightened from the hearth and turned, giving her a wry look. "Somehow you've inherited Derbinar's sense of humor. I pray the rest haven't."  
  
"You will meet them soon, Felus. Then you'll see." She smiled, and they sat down to breakfast. 


End file.
